The Waterbury Rotary Club would like to invite the community to join us on Tuesday, August 29 from 7:30am - 8:30am at the Waterbury Fire Station for an important and fascinating program: "Common Man For Ukraine", presented by four members of the Plymouth, New Hampshire Rotary Club.
Susan, Alex, Steve. And Lisa will be in Waterbury to talk about their five trips to Ukraine and an upcoming sixth trip. Please join us to hear their inspiring story.
The group has visited Ukraine several times since the beginning of the invasion/assault by Russian forces. Although none of these individuals had any experience in large-scale humanitarian aid, they wanted to make a difference and headed off to Poland to meet with the Rotary District Governor to determine a course of action.
From Poland, they went to Ukraine and, with military contacts, traveled into a war zone where they met with many of the children who had been sent to safe houses for their protection. They connected with the children and the needs they had that were pretty basic – heat, winter coats, sleeping bags, food, generators, flashlights and batteries. Things many of us take for granted.
The four friends returned to the USA and began fundraising. They raised over $2.5 million dollars from individual donors along with a $1 million dollar matching donation from the Common Man Family of Restaurants. Goods were purchased in Poland to avoid shipping issues and over several trips to the orphanages/safe houses, they were able to provide 750 tons of food, nearly 10,000 sleeping bags, hundreds of solar lanterns and Christmas presents for 2.4 million children. "Common Man for Ukraine" is now also helping to fund summer camps and counseling for the children affected by the war.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Parking is NOT available at the Fire Station. People should plan on a few extra minutes to find parking and walk to the Fire Station.
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